State police arrest Greensburg man in 7-mile chase that ended on busy Hempfield highway

A Greensburg man is accused of leading state police on a 7-mile chase Monday that ended on a busy section of Route 30 in Hempfield, according to court papers.

Troopers said the chase started when Isaac J. Brown, 19, fled a traffic stop in New Stanton at 5:30 p.m. Police tried to pull over the Kia Optima Brown was driving because the vehicle’s registered owner, whose appearance matched that of Brown, was the subject of an arrest warrant.

The car fled onto Racetrack Road, Silvis Farm Road and Baltzer Meyer Pike to Walton Tea Room Road, police said. The driver headed eastbound on Route 30 and crashed into a Chrysler 200 at Hempfield Square before continuing on, according to court papers. Troopers said the driver of the Chrysler 200 was not hurt.

During the pursuit, police said the Kia Optima repeatedly crossed over the center line into oncoming traffic. That section of Route 30 is traveled by about 34,000 motorists daily, according to PennDOT figures.

A trooper used his patrol unit to push the Kia Optima sideways near Red Robin, which sent the car across the highway and over an embankment to the restaurant’s parking lot where it hit three vehicles parked there, according to court papers. Police said a firearm was thrown from the car by the driver. Brown ran from the car but was taken into custody in the parking lot of Chick-fil-A.

A passenger, John Lloyd Headlam, 22, of Penn Hills, also ran from the car and was captured in the parking lot.

Brown is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, fleeing from police, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and related offenses. Headlam is charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. A second passenger was not charged. Both suspects were being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $250,000 bail each.

Neither had an attorney listed in online court records. Preliminary hearings are set for April 12.

Brown is awaiting court action in a January drug possession case filed by Latrobe police, according to online court records. A certified summons sent to him was unclaimed.